Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte
Nope, drivers pay for the privilege of using public roads.
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That's a pretty common misconception.
Who pays for roads and do bicyclists pay taxes? - Reno Streetcar
"If you look at who funds the roads bicyclists and cars are sharing, you’ll see that they are not paid for only with money raised by “user fees”, but also a signficant portion is funded by general funds money.
Interstate highways are paid for with a large portion of the cost (if not the whole amount) paid for by the federal government. Bikes typically are not on these roads. However, many state, county, and municipal roads are paid for with large portions paid for by general fund money. Considering that fuel taxes are typically exempt from local sales taxes, bicycle owners pay an equal proportion of taxes to general funds as car owners do.
So the main idea here is that, roads don’t pay for themselves. There isn’t a free market working here – our governments have chosen to advance a particular mode of transportation and this is evidenced in that fact that roads do not pay for themselves solely with user fees."